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Tag Archives: transparency
Recovery.gov Relaunched
Recovery.gov is back up. This time, it has many more features. It is a website that, according to the website:
Lets you, the taxpayer, figure out where the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is going. There are going to be a few different ways to search for information. The money is being distributed by Federal agencies, and soon you'll be able to see where it's going -- to which states, to which congressional districts, even to which Federal contractors. As soon as we are able to, we'll display that information visually in maps, charts, and graphics.You can read a full copy of the bill, share your recovery story, and learn more about the President's accountability & transparency objectives. And check out the "Where is Your Money Going"? page for a simple visual representation. Continue reading
ShowUsTheData.com
The Sunlight Foundation, Open The Government and the Center for Democracy and Technology have done it again. They've created yet another cool initiative called Show Us the Data for you to "identify the 10 Most Wanted Government Documents, Reports or Data Sets that should be available on the Web"!
Is the federal government putting the information you need online? Are there categories of unclassified documents or data that you know exist–on paper or in government computers and databases–that would be of value to the public if posted and regularly updated on an agency's Web site? If so, then help Open The Government and the Center for Democracy and Technology identify the 10 Most Wanted Government Documents, Reports or Data Sets that should be available on the Web. Use this site to tell us what data you want and who has it, (“Request a Document”) or add your vote (up to three times) to the suggestions others have made. The deadline to submit documents and vote is March 9, 2009Continue reading
More on the Federal CTO
The Federal Chief Technology Officer (CTO) position to be created by the Obama administration has been on the radar of government information specialists for some time (check out Chella Vaidyanathan's recent comments on one of the high profile candidates, Vivek Kundra). Via Mark Drapeau's Twitter stream, take a look at a recent CRS report on the new position. The report reviews the history of the CIO Council established by President Clinton in 1996, and discusses the similarly widespread nature of CTO responsibilities throughout federal agencies.
Among the early challenges a CTO may face are defining and communicating the roles of the position; identifying and recruiting talent, from both inside and outside of government; and negotiating domains of responsibilities, formal and informal, within the White House (if that is where the Obama Administration or Congress decides to establish a CTO) and with executive branch agencies that have overlapping missions. Beyond these initial challenges, a CTO would need to establish goals and milestones, set priorities, secure resources, and develop and execute a strategy. If the position or office of a CTO is not established by Congress and provided with statutory authorities and a dedicated budget, it may be difficult for a CTO to affect change in individual federal agencies or systemically throughout the federal government. In such a case, the efficacy of a CTO may depend largely on the mandate provided by President Obama to a CTO (and agencies’ perception of the mandate), the imprimatur of the White House, and the personal attributes of a CTO (e.g., relationship with the President, past accomplishments, knowledge, professional reputation, persuasiveness). Perhaps one of the most difficult and enduring challenges a CTO may face would be “turf wars” associated with overlapping responsibilities with other executive agencies and their principals on issues such as technology and innovation policy, computer and network security, and intellectual property enforcement...When the plan for the CTO position is finalized, it may benefit the government information community to develop a message and a means to share it with the CTO in a way that is tailored to the powers and capabilities of the position. Our concerns about transparency certainly complement the stated concerns of the new administration, and while the new CTO may be hearing messages from throughout the government, our message deserves to be heard. Continue reading
Maryland initiates New Funding Accountability website
The state of Maryland has initiated the new Maryland Funding Accountability website that “allows citizens of Maryland and visitors to search and view summary information on payments made to vendors that received $25,000 or more for the respective fiscal year.” Using this new website, the public can view how their tax money is being spent by the government. At present, information is available only for the 2008 fiscal year. Governor Martin O’Malley stated that the main objective in creating the website was to promote government accountability and transparency. Continue reading
Stimulus Bill Transparency
A juicy tidbit of info over at the Sunlight Blog and ABC News: Stimulus Bill to go Web 2.0?
They’re planning a Google-like search function to show every program funded by the stimulus package, whether it comes in under or over-budget, whether it is meeting its intended purpose, and how many jobs it is creating.Sounds interesting! Let's hope they follow through. Continue reading
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